Ramses: 'I am ready for something new'

Ohm Youngmisuk has covered the Giants, Jets and the NFL since 2006. Prior to that, he covered the Nets, Knicks and the NBA for nearly a decade. He joined ESPNNewYork.com after working at the New York Daily News for almost 12 years and is a graduate of Michigan State University.
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Ramses Barden is days away from free agency and he sounds excited to get the process started of potentially moving on to a new team.

The Giants unrestricted free agent sounded fully ready to move on from the team that drafted him in the third round in 2009 out of Cal Poly.

“I’m really kind of excited for the offseason,” Barden said on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “As much fun as I have had in New York and yeah, I am comfortable there, it is probably best for me to start looking other places, for a new system, for a refreshed sense of welcoming. I think everybody can benefit from newness in their lives. And this is going to be one of those for me.”

The 6-foot-6 Barden is ready for an opportunity to play –- something he didn’t get a chance to do often with the Giants. With the Giants, Barden was buried on the depth chart. Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz are the starters and Rueben Randle looks primed to take over the third receiver role.

Barden played in a total of 29 games in his four seasons with just one start. He had a total of 29 receptions for 394 yards, but he had 9 catches for 138 yards in his lone start against Carolina this past season with Nicks out.

He was unable to stick as the team's third receiver last season. Over the years, he didn’t see much playing time due to receivers ahead of him or injuries he suffered during his Giants tenure as well.

“Obviously, there was some issue early on,” Barden said when asked to sum up his four years with the Giants coming out of a small school like Cal Poly. “But when it came to opportunities, I always seized the opportunity and I can stand proud on that.

“I was always the team player, I was always working,” he continued. “A lot of times I was open. And there’s no ill feelings for me. I had a great experience with the Giants. Had I had more opportunities to seize, I would have seized them. And I am confident in that.”

Barden is eager to show what he can do with that big frame. And it certainly sounds like he is ready to show that somewhere else.

“It is not that I am not open,” he said when asked if he is open to returning to the Giants. “There’s something important, there’s something about renewal, refreshing...every so often, a dog sheds, an animal sheds, and they become bigger and grow into a new skin, a new coat.

“This is just my process. This is my evolution as a receiver where I feel I am ready for something new.”